7:15 PM,
Dec. 29, 2013

This is a copy of the letters Jonnie Wright said he handed out to motorists Dec. 24 in Polk and Story counties.

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On the chilly Christmas Eve just passed, Jonnie Wright set out to prove that charity was, in fact, its own reward.

Wright donned a hooded sweatshirt and a cardboard sign that read "Please Help." He stood on the median along Merle Hay Road near the intersection of Interstate Highway 35/80 near the border of Des Moines and Johnston.

For two hours, people stopped and handed him cash and in some cases, food and gloves. He handed each donor an envelope. Eventually, an off-duty officer told him it was illegal to panhandle in Polk County. So he drove up to Ames and did the same thing for another two hours. ...